Full Scoop - Charlotte Hughes, Janet Evanovich

...of Janet Evanovich (Full Tilt, Full Speed). A couple of years later, Evanovich teamed up with Charlotte Hughes to continue the Full series as a co-authored work (releasing Full Blast in 2004, and Full Bloom in 2005). Now at the sixth in the series, Full Scoop was published in 2006 under the St Martin's Paperback label.

PLOT
Fourteen years ago, Dr Maggie Farnsworth was romantically involved with a guy named Carl Lee. Shortly ...
...the characters from the previous Full stories - Jamie Swift, Max Holt, Vera, Deedee, Destiny... and Fleas the dog.


OPINION
To say that this is a co-authored book, there isn't that much difference in the writing style than you'd find in any pure Evanovich book. It's slightly more serious, slightly less slapstick, but that's about all. Having not read any of Charlotte Hughes' work, I can't compare it to her individual ... more

In 1989 a small romance novel was released under the title of 'Second Chance at Love, No 466' and released under the pseudonym of Steffie Hall. It was only on sale for a month, and yet it became the first in a series to be known as the 'Full' series after being renamed 'Full House'. Two more books were published in the series under her true name of Janet Evanovich (Full Tilt, Full Speed). A couple of years later, Evanovich teamed up with Charlotte Hughes to continue the Full series as a co-authored work (releasing Full Blast in 2004, and Full Bloom in 2005). Now at the sixth in the series, Full Scoop was published in 2006 under the St Martin's Paperback label.

PLOT
Fourteen years ago, Dr Maggie Farnsworth was romantically involved with a guy named Carl Lee. Shortly after they'd separated (not before getting her pregnant) Carl Lee then went on a crime spree - killing a cop and shooting several others in an attempt to rob an ATM truck. He was sentenced to life in jail, and so Maggie got on with her life.
Nowadays she resides in the small South Carolina town of Beaumont and is the local paediatrician. At home she lives with her 13year old daughter and their menagerie of animals (chickens, rabbits, a goat… all payment at one time or another for her medical services). Life is moving along fine and dandy until one day she receives news that Carl Lee has escaped, and rumour has it he is on his way to visit her, and collect fourteen years of debt.
Help comes to hand for Maggie and Mel in the form of undercover agent Zack Madden, but with his broken arm and general out-of-shapeness, will he be able to provide all the help they need, especially after developing feelings that certainly aren't covered in the FBI manual? Thankfully the whole town is also there to offer support and a helping hand. Not least the characters from the previous Full stories - Jamie Swift, Max Holt, Vera, Deedee, Destiny... and Fleas the dog.

OPINION
To say that this is a co-authored book, there isn't that much difference in the writing style than you'd find in any pure Evanovich book. It's slightly more serious, slightly less slapstick, but that's about all. Having not read any of Charlotte Hughes' work, I can't compare it to her individual style.

The story is a believable and engaging one - right up until the end. When Carl Lee turns up to collect the debt mentioned in the synopsis, and you find out where it's been hidden all those years it's like 'oh come on, how has no one looked there!?' but aside from that, the story is great. It's full of passion and emotion, happy times and sheer terror for the characters involved. As events unfold you find yourself longing for the good guys to win and desperate not to see anything bad happen to the beloved characters.

I did feel the book was ever so slightly too long. At 347 pages, it's not a mammoth novel in any sense, but compared to the other Evanovich books I've been reading lately, its about 100 pages longer and I did begin to tire at a couple of points. I felt there was quite a bit of padding, just to make the book fit in with the rest of the series, and it'd have been just as good without any of that.

This book is part of a series, and to appreciate every single little detail, yes you probably need to have read the previous five novels. That said, it's not essential if all you want is a good, light-hearted read. It's mainly the characters that flow from book to book, rather than their stories, so you won't feel like you've started something halfway through, rather you'll just be introduced to a lot of new people all at once! In actual fact, the characters who are the 'stars' of the Full series, Jamie and Max, aren't really main in this book at all, and more in there for continuity than any great plot help!

OVERALL
It's about 2 or 3 years since I read any of the Full series (I'm not even sure I read Full Bloom, and just skipped onto this one instead!), and yet I enjoyed it immensely. The story was captivating from start to finish, and even when I began to tire a little there was always something to bring me right back in. Fans of the Full series will find the characters they love, and new comers will be introduced to their world, both being able to get pleasure from the story without feeling left out or confused about events that have happened before.
 

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